U.S. Open

Arnold Palmer was playing for history. Billy Casper was hoping for a nice check.

As the two men stood on the 10th tee at The Olympic Club in the fourth round of the 1966 U.S. Open, Palmer leading Casper by seven shots and trying to break the Open scoring record Ben Hogan set at Riviera in 1948, Casper said to The King, “I’d like to finish second.”

To which Palmer answered, “I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

The conversation spoke volumes about Casper’s affable nature and Palmer’s supreme confidence. Neither man knew that over the course of the next two hours their careers would be changed forever, veering in wildly different directions.

In what is still considered one of the most shocking reversals in the history of major championships, Casper, the San Diego native, overcame Palmer’s enormous margin and forced an 18-hole playoff. On that Monday, Casper fell behind again, engineered a six-shot swing, and ended up beating Palmer, 69 to 72.

“There is picture of us walking off the 18th green and I’ve got my arm around Arnold’s shoulder,” Casper recalled over lunch at the Masters in April. “I told him, ‘I’m sorry Arnold.’ And I meant it. He was flying high, and from that point on his career went downhill and mine went uphill.”

Then, as it is now, Casper didn’t linger on pity for long.

“You still have feelings, but then again, if I was playing against my grandmother I’d want to beat her,” Casper said, breaking into a full belly laugh. “That sums it up about the way it is.”

At the age of 80, Casper is reveling in the attention that comes each time the U.S. Open returns to The Olympic Club in San Francisco. This year is particularly gratifying because he recently published his memoir, “The Big Three and Me” — the title being a wink and nod to playing in the long shadows of the better-marketed trio of Palmer, Jack Nickalus and Gary Player.

In the months leading up to this year’s U.S. Open, writers from around the country have been calling, and Casper has been busy traveling to make appearances and do book signings. He jokes that he’s busier than he’s been in his life.

Casper, along with the other Olympic Open champions — Jack Fleck (1955), Poway’s Scott Simpson (1987), and Lee Janzen (1998) — will be on hand when this year’s trophy is handed out.

“Every day is a high,” Casper said with true joy in his voice. “It’s a high!”

A reporter from the East Coast called Casper early in the spring and wanted to know how he felt about his great win at Olympic being remembered more for Palmer’s collapse.

“I said, ‘Let me tell you something,’ “Casper said. “There were 15 scores shot under 70 that week, and I had four of them. You might say I was playing pretty well.’ And I said, ‘My name’s on the trophy!’ ”